Crisis Communication

Communicating in a crisis is a challenge - what to say, how much, and keeping all parties in touch with each other so that you come out of the crisis intact. The articles this week will examine many of the aspects of crisis communications in order to help you make and/or refine your communication plans.

This white paper examines why companies should develop and implement an on-demand conferencing and collaboration plan that supports business continuity. (Item #1)   Here's how to create an effective one-page communications map for your CEO or other spokesperson.
(Item #2)   How do you go about selecting a crisis communication system? (Item #3)  

In a crisis, you have to be able to communicate the decisions you make to assure business continuity. (Item #4)   Media training might be a critical part of your crisis communication strategy. (Item #5)   Here's what you need to know about continuity planning for telecomm systems.
(Item #6)  

As always, we look forward to hearing your comments & insights regarding business continuity. If you have a topic you'd like us to cover, email me at [email protected].

Bob Mellinger, President
Attainium Corp

1. Critical communications for business continuity: how to ensure employees, partners & customers stay connected

It's absolutely critical that, in the face of a disruptive event, companies ensure their employees can communicate with one another, and with the company's partners and customers. In the face of any interruption to normal business, employees need to receive information about the event, and how they are to continue operating, often on a continuous basis. The goal is always to minimize confusion, so that employees spend as little time as possible figuring out how to do their jobs, and as much time as possible actually doing them.
http://www.polycom.com/global/documents/whitepapers/critical_communication_ for_business_community.pdf

2. An ABC of message maps

Message maps support effective communication in a crisis, but narrow and rigid message mapping can be a trap in a crisis. CEOs in crisis are often better advised to use a one page sheet (under the pump they will rarely read more) which gives them a quality approach to message mapping - an active application in any context. The article provides an effective one pager developed with this in mind.
http://www.continuitycentral.com/feature0466.htm

3. Choosing a crisis notification system

Are you confident that the right people in your organisation can be contacted to respond to any number of possible scenarios? Can you do it quickly and reliably, every time? Software solutions that automate the notification process are now powerful and reliable enough to implement and manage the notification process enterprise-wide. The choices are many, however, and deciding which one to buy can be a daunting task.
http://www.continuitycentral.com/feature0191.htm

4. In-crisis decision making: Communicate or expect the worst

A crisis response team, adopting a structured in-crisis process, can make effective decisions, but not if it can't communicate those decisions and resulting actions to those who need to know, it will have the same impact as not making a decision to begin with. The need to issue time-sensitive communications at the outset, during and after a crisis situation is the operational foundation of crisis management.
http://www.continuitycentral.com/feature0757.html

5. Integrating Public Relations and Legal Strategy: Media Training

Playing with the media is a game you can't afford to lose. At worst, your reputation's at stake. At best, you forfeit a chance to build important relationships which can benefit you, your firm, and your clients. Reporters may make the rules, but media training helps you learn to play the game to your advantage.
http://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/docs/integrating_public_relations_ and_legal_strategy--media_training.html

6. Guide to Incorporating Communications into Business Continuity Planning

When an emergency occurs-whether you lose one key individual, one strategic system, an entire building, or a whole network-communications is the most critical element for enabling people to effectively manage and recover from the disruption. In this Guide, Avaya explains how to accomplish continuity planning for telecommunication systems.
http://www.business.com/guides/ incorporating-communications-into-business-continuity-planning-11085/